It must come as yet another blow to claimants and their solicitors alike, that the governmenthas indicated that it is likely to wait until 2024 before reviewing the tariff levels for lower value RTA claims.

Last month the justice minister Lord Bellamy wrote to the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) rejecting its calls for an immediate review of the tariff list of damages.

Lord Bellamy told the group that it was ‘not appropriate’ to undertake a review, suggesting that this was because there had only been two court judgements on quantum disputes since the tariff was introduced.

MASS argued that the MOJ was wrong to say that there was insufficient data from court judgements to make an effective assessment of the whiplash tariffs, and commented that ‘the tariff is beyond the scope of the courts’.  MASS chair, Sue Brown said ‘Judges cannot change a statutorily set tariff.  Court judgements are an entirely separate issue from the tariff of damages being awarded within the Official Injury Claim portal and we remain very unclear how thousands of further judgements would have any impact on the operation of the tariff’.

Most working in the industry will recall that under the Civil Liability Act 2018 the government had to consult with the Lord Chief Justice on the tariff figures, and that the Act provided for a review of the tariff after 3 years.

In her comments, Sue Brown also made clear her disappointment that the government had not taken into consideration the impact of increasing inflation which has also had a detrimental effect on damage awards for accident victims.   She said ‘an 11% increase in the tariff that was supposed to ‘inflation-proof’ the awards for three years has now been eroded in a single year’.

The reforms have in the past been heavily criticised, not least because of the direct impact on claimants.  There has, since the introduction of the tariffs been a real concern at the low level of set damages which are significantly lower than those allowed under the Judicial College Guidelines.

Here at Box Legal, we are aware that many Personal Injury firms have had to make difficult decisions since the introduction of the tariffs and to assist in supporting them we have developed a cost effective ATE Insurance solution for RTA claims.

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Solicitors who continue to act for those claimants not wishing to pursue claims alone in the new RTA claims regime now face having to fund the cost of medical report fees whilst earning less in legal fees on successful cases to cover this cost. Disbursement write offs could eat heavily into a lower profit margin.

For this reason we have developed a cost effective ATE insurance solution for personal injury claims following a RTA occurring after 31 May 2021, which takes into account the new whiplash tariff awards and which continues to help support RTA claims being run on a CFA basis by covering the cost of all disbursements and any adverse costs in failed cases.

This is a single, easy to use policy covering all cases from small claims through to high value multi-track claims. Premiums are deferred and based on the final value of the claim.

For more information please contact us by emailing info@boxlegal.co.uk or calling 0870 766 9997